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M. PRBNTIOB. STILL FOR OBTAINING NITRIC A011), 650.

No. 527,718. Patented 001;. 16, 1894.

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STILL FOR OBTAINING NITRIG ACID, 8w. No. 527,718. jig-9'4 Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

JQ [F NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MANNING PRENTIoE, OF STOWMARKET, ENGLAND.

STILL FOR OBTAINING NITRIC ACID, 80G.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,718, dated October 16, 1894. Application filed October 10, 1393. fierial No. 487,765. (No model.) I

To a'ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MANNING PRENTIOE, manufacturingchemist, asubj ect of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Woodfield, Stowmarket, in the county of Suffolk, England, have invented certain Improvements in Means or Apparatus for Distilling or Obtaining Volatile Constituents or Products, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide simple and efficient means or apparatus Whereby distilling operations, or the obtainment of volatile constituents, or products, can be efiected in a continuous manner, and so that, where required, constituents or products which are separated at diiferent periods, or under different temperatures, can be separately obtained by a continuous process; and the invention relates more particularly to the provision of apparatus for carrying into efiect the continuous'process for the production of nitric acid, as described in my application filed October 10, 1893, Serial No. 487,766, and for the treatment of such substances as are introduced into the apparatus in a solid state.

According to my'invention I provide a still,

i or apparatus, consisting of a vessel divided into a number of separate compartments or consisting of a number of chambers so constructed, or arranged, that the s'aid compart-' ments, or chambers, communicate with each other at their lower parts, so that the matter or matters, being distilled, passesor pass into the first compartment or chamber, by a suitable inlet, and then flows or flow from compartment or chamber, to compartments or chambers, and eventually the refuse or residue from which the volatile constituents have been distilled passes or pass off by asiphon or other suitable outlet. The said matter or matters, acts or act as a seal by which the 7 upper portions of the compartments or chambers are kept separate from each other and the volatile constituents or products driven off in each compartment or'chamberare led ofi separately by anoutlet therefor provided at the upper part of each compartment or chamber. The matter or matters to be distilled can thus be passed continuously through the series of compartments or chambers and the volatile constituent or constituents or product or products be obtained continuously from the several compartments or chambers. The apparatus can be heated by any suitable heating medium, such as by fire heat or by steam outside the compartments or chambers,

or'passed through coils contained therein, 7

and when diiferent constituents or products are obtainable at different temperatures from the material or materials under treatment, the arrangement may be such that the compartments or chambers are subjected each to a temperature necessary to obtain from each the required constituent or product.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section an apparatus constructed as arranged in accordance with my invention. section on the line 1, 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of an arrangement for feeding the matter to be Fig. 2 is a transverse distilled into the distillatory apparatus. Fig.

5 is a section on theline 3, 4., Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a plan with the cover removed, and Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of the hopper, trough and accessory parts.

A is the still or vessel provided with the inlet b for the matter to be distilled and with the outlet e for the refuse or residue to pass off.

0 are partitions which each extends from side to side of the still or vessel A and leave a space 0 between its lower edge and the botthe heat as it may be applied in any other 1 suitable way.

The upper part of the still is shown as betherein.

ing inclosed in a surrounding casing constituting a hot air chamber into which the gases from the furnace pass. If it be desired to obtain products from each compartment which are driven off at difierent temperatures the compartments may be heated by providing each with separate furnaces or heating appliances or by so arranging the flue or fiues from the furnace or furnaces that the heated products therefrom are as they pass in proximity to the several compartments at the requisite temperatures to impart to them the heat necessary to drive ofi the volatile constituents required from each.

The liquid being distilled is maintained at such a height in the still or vessel A that it seals the openings 0 beneath the partitions c keeping the upper parts of the compartments a separate from each other so that the volatile constituents can be separately obtained at the outlets cl from each compartment. If the matter to be distilled be supplied by the inlet 1) as the refuse or residue after distillation is drawn ed at the outlet 6 the process of distillation can be carried on continuously.

For mixing and feeding the material into the still I have shown a device consisting of a casing f provided with a cover g the meeting edges of the casing and cover being inclined to give a tight closure by the weight of the cover causing it to seat itself securely on the casing.

h is the inlet by which the materials'to be distilled are fed into the casing from the hopper h by a spout or trough h and q} isan outlet for the escape of any gas generated The trough h is supported from the hopperby flexible connections 72. and is provided "with a depending arm h engaged at one side by a spring h. A shaft 8 extending transversely to the trough in front of the arm 71. is supported in suitable bearings on the frame work. This shaft carries at one end a pulley s through which motion is received from apulley k on the worm shaft 70, and is also provided with a cam .9 arranged to engage the arm h which cam co-operates with the spring h to oscillate the spout tofeed the material to the mixer.

j is a feed roll provided with feeders and breakers 7' which are helically arranged and are shownas being non-continuous but they maybe continuous if desired. The'feed roll is rotated from any suitable motor orby hand. This may be efiected by operating a worm mounted in brackets 70 and gearing with a worm wheel on the axis of a feed roll projecting from the casings.

Z is the opening by which the materials are fed by the feed roll into the still.

In the employment of my apparatus to carry out the continuous process for the production of nitric acid, as described in my application 65 heretofore referred to, the nitrate of soda and sulphuric acid after being first mixed in the mixer are fed thereby in a finely pulped condition through the inlet opening I) for the first chamber a, said opening 19 being in the form of a pocket or compartment which is heated to a temperature intermediate between that of the mixer and the first chamber of the still. This temperature is such that while the heat tends to dissolve the nitrate in the acid there shall not be any considerable evaporation of the nitric acid. The hyponitric acid and chlorine produced from the impurities in the nitrate can be conducted to any suitable condenser before collecting the nitric acid. The mixture then flows from the pocket into the first chamber a, of the still, where it boils and gives 01f large quantities of nitric acid contaminated more or less with hyponitric acid. These vapors are by the first still head continuously conducted to suitable condensers, and when condensed may be run into a stone jar. The mixture of sulphuric acid, nitrate and sulphate of soda, flows from chamber to chamber boiling incessantly and giving off pure nitric acid. The liquid contained in eachsuccessive compartment has therefore a less percentage of nitric acid and a higher percentageof sulphate of soda than in the preceding compartments. found to difier in density, the strongest being collected from the first still head and the weakest from thelast. The mixture of 'sulphuric acid and sulphate of soda with the the remainingacid with vapors of waterand some sulphuric acid. Theseare continuously conducted by the last still head to appropriate condensers. The continuous collection of these is a valuable feature of the process.

I do not limit myself to the precise details shown in the drawings as it will be evident that the construction may bemodified. For example the compartments a may be made up of separate chambers with pipes or passages between each equivalent to the passages c Having now particularly described the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is-- The nitric acid produced will be 5 In a still or apparatus for distilling "or obthrough which the matter under distillation In testimony whereof I have signed my 19 passes on its way from the inlet to the. outlet, name to this specification in the presence of so as to seal the said pipes or passages and two subscribing witnesses.

I constitute in each chamber a separate space, MANNING PBENTIOE. 5 above the said matter, from which the volatile Witnesses: constituents or products can be obtained, of EDWARD O. HAMMOND, a mixer or feeder for feeding the mixture WILLIAM T. UPTON,

composed partly of solid material to the inlet Both of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields, London,

opening, substantially as described. W O'. 

